AIR: Tomás Saraceno
Tomás Saraceno
Argentina b.1973
We do not all breathe the same air (inner-city, Melbourne) 2018
Air pollution prints; black carbon and soot (PM2.5, PM10), filter paper
Five parts: 34 x 40cm (each)
Gift of Studio Tomás Saraceno and neugerriemschneider, Berlin 2023
Drift: A cosmic web of thermodynamic rhythms 2022
15 Aerocene spheres, transparent and metallic mylar, tape, pump with overpressure release, polyester rope, kinetic system; Aerocene station; Aerocene backpack
Dimensions variable
Purchased 2022 with funds from the Neilson Foundation through the QAGOMA Foundation
Tomás Saraceno’s constellation of 15 mirrored spheres creates a space ‘for rest and reflection, where air becomes breath’. Saraceno’s artistic vision encompasses extremes of both time and distance: asking us to imagine air as a vast web of currents encircling the globe; and as molecules moving within our bodies and bloodstream.
The silver spheres of Drift: A cosmic web of thermodynamic rhythms 2022 are part transparent and part reflective; some seem to move slowly, while others float in apparent stillness. As they catch and refract the light, they remind us of the complex dynamics of the air we rely on.
Tomás Saraceno’s Drift: A cosmic web of thermodynamic rhythms 2022, installed for ‘Air’, GOMA, March 2023 / © Tomás Saraceno / Photograph: J Ruckli, QAGOMA
Saraceno’s framed series of drawings We do not all breathe the same air 2018–ongoing was created with the aid of air-pollution monitors spanning inner-city and regional locations. The circles of lighter and darker grey represent levels of particulate matter in the air we inhale.
In a world facing a climate emergency, Saraceno advocates for an entirely new era: the Aerocene. The international Aerocene community is built on an ethics of collaboration and sharing. The Aerocene Backpack 2016–ongoing is a conceptual proposition for a personal ‘flight starter kit’ created using open-source instructions and technology. All are invited to build versions of the backpack via Aerocene.org.
Through his artworks and community projects, Saraceno reminds us how deeply, if invisibly, we are all connected. He issues a call to contribute to a just energy transition – to work together to create a cleaner and more cooperative future.
Image Gallery
Tomás Saraceno’s works installed for ‘Air’, GOMA, March 2023 / © Tomás Saraceno / Photographs: J Ruckli, QAGOMA
Evoking the faint form of distant moons, We do not all breathe the same air 2018–ongoing reveals levels of particulate matter contained in the air we breathe.
Saraceno redeploys long strips of paper tape produced by machines named Beta Attenuation Mass Monitors (BAM) which measure air pollution over time. The BAM’s vacuum pump pulls a controlled amount of air through filter tape every hour, catching any particulate matter in the process. In lighter and darker grey, these long lines of spheres visualise how uneven the distribution of air quality and particle pollution is across three Victorian locations: inner-city Melbourne; the leafy eastern suburb of Box Hill; and the regional city of Geelong. Different technology is used to monitor this information around Brisbane. Each strip records one dot per hour, 24 dots per day, with variations reflecting the passage from day to night, and from weekdays to weekends.
The differences across city, suburban and regional locales illustrates that the air we breathe is determined by socio-geographic factors, with serious impacts upon our health over time. Depending on where we live, each breath we take is not only crucial to life but might also reduce our lifespan.
Explore ‘Air’
